


Always, the Breakfast Club

by LittleLadyLazarus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Breakfast Club (1985)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Breakfast Club AU, F/F, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:27:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4472333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLadyLazarus/pseuds/LittleLadyLazarus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neville Longbottom is the brain, Ginny Weasley is the athlete, Luna Lovegood is the basket case, Draco Malfoy is the Princess, and Harry Potter is the criminal. They all get a Saturday detention at Hogwarts High School - locked in the library and not supposed to use magic, move, or even breathe if Professor Snape got his way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always, the Breakfast Club

**Author's Note:**

> I am sorry if this gets to be out of character I've just been marathoning The Breakfast Club for days and this happened purely out of boredom and this happened.  
> Also, in this AU Hogwarts is set up like a normal high school, but they're still wizards. Just more modernized.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Breakfast Club, I do not pretend to own the Breakfast Club, nor do I own Harry Potter. I just kind of put them in the blender of my mind and this is what got spit out.
> 
> Enjoy.

> **“And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through...” – David Bowie**

_Saturday, March 24 th, 1997_

_Hogwarts High School, Hogsmeade_

_60062_

_Dear Professer Snape,_

_We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did **was** wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are._

_What do you care? You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct?_

_That’s the way we saw each other at seven o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed._

 

xXx

 

Draco sat in his father’s car and rolled his eyes.

            “I can’t believe you can’t get me out of this,” his complained, glowering at the stone structure of the school. “It’s absolutely ridiculous I have to be here on a Saturday! It’s not like I’m a defective or anything!”

            “I’ll make it up to you,” Mr. Malfoy replied. “Son, skipping school to go to a Quidditch game doesn’t make you a defective. Have a good day.”

            Draco rolled his eyes and got out of the car. ‘ _Unbelievable!_ ’ he thought. His father had so much influence, surely he could’ve gotten him out of a ridiculous detention if he had at least _tried_.

 

As Mr. Malfoy’s sleek black car drove away, the Longbottom’s car pulled up in its place. Neville looked at the school as his gran began lecturing him.

            “Is this going to be the first time or the last time we do this?” she asked him.

            He looked down at his lap. “The last.”

            His grandmother shook her head. “Well, get in there and use the time to your advantage!”

            “Gran, we’re not supposed to study. We’re just supposed to sit there.”

            “Well figure out a way to study! Go!”

            Neville muttered something about making time to study, and working on his Transfiguration homework, before exiting the car and making his way inside.

 

Behind the Longbottoms, were the Weasleys. The Ford Anglia was battered and banged and the blueness of the metal made the fiery red hair inside it stand out. Ginny was barely listening to her father’s lecture, she already knew the words.

            “You know, Ginny, I screwed around when I was in school. People screw around, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But you got caught, sweetheart.”

            Ginny rolled her eyes. She was used to this by now. Screw around, don’t get caught. She should’ve known better anyway, after all her older brothers were the tormentors of the school’s teachers with how often they screwed around. “Mom already read me the right act.”

            “You wanna miss a match, Ginevra?” Mr. Weasley asked. “You want to ruin your chances of making it into the Holyhead Harpies like you dreamed?” Ginny shook her head, looking down at her knees. “No team is going to hire a discipline case!”

            Ginny groaned and opened the door, stepping out of the vehicle and stalking off into the school.

 

xXx

 

Inside the library, Draco sat near the front of the room. Ginny awkwardly joined him, sitting down with a chair between them. Neville sat first in the seat behind the ginger, before Harry Potter strolled in and gestured for the boy to move. Sheepishly, Neville scurried to the table beside him. Harry stretched his legs out between two chairs and relaxed back. Luna was the final one in. She hurried around the tables and to the back of the room, sitting down at the table behind Neville and staring at the wall.

            A few seconds of awkward silence pursued the group, before Professor Snape finally walked in, his heels clicking on the floor as he scowled at the students.

            “Well, well. Here we are,” he drawled. “I’d like to congratulate you for actually being on time.”

            Draco let out a small sigh. “Professor Snape, I think there’s been a mistake. I mean, I know I’m in detention, but... I don’t think I belong in _here_.”

            “It is now... seven. Oh. Six. You all have exactly eight hours and _fifty-four_ minutes to think about _why_ you are here. _Ponder_ the error of your ways. Any talking and there will be ten house points taken. If you move from these seats, there will be house points taken. There will be no magic, and,” he strolled down the aisle and grabbed the chair which bore Harry’s feet, ripping it away from the boy, “ _you_ , Mr. Potter, will. Not. Sleep.” It was then that the students noticed the parchment in Professor Snape’s hands. “We’re going to try something new today. You are going to write me an essay. No less than two feet of parchment. Describe to me, who you think you are.”

            “Is this a test?” Harry shot out, knowing full well what Professor Snape thought him to be.

            “And when I say essay,” Snape sneered, “I mean _essay_. I do not mean a single word repeated, I do not mean three-inch tall letters to fill the parchment with a single sentence, am I clear, Mr. Potter?”

            “Crystal,” Harry replied, his feet now resting on the desk.

            “Good, maybe you’ll learn a little something about yourself. Maybe you’ll even decide whether or not you care to return.”

            Neville nervously raised his hand and stood to address the teacher whom he feared so much. “Uh, I, uh, I can answer that now, sir. That’s a no for me, sir.”

            “Sit down, Longbottom!” the greasy-haired man snapped. Neville dropped back into his seat with a soft ‘thank you, professor’.

            “My office,” Snape continued, his words slow and heavy as always, “is right across that hall. Any funny business, any at all, is ill advised, unless you would like to spend your next Friday night in the Forbidden Forest with Mr. Filch. Any questions?”

            The room was quiet for a moment, before Harry spoke up. “Yeah, Professor, I have a question. Does Marilyn Manson know that you raid his wardrobe?” Ginny held back a slight smile.

            “I’ll give you the answer to that question, Mr. Potter,” said Snape with a hard glare down his hooked nose, “next Saturday. Don’t mess with the snake, young man, you’ll get the fangs.” He walked out of the room with quick, meaningful steps.

            “That man gives himself far too many pats on the back,” Harry rolled his eyes.

            The room possessed another awkward silence broken only by Luna humming to herself from the back. The quartet of others tried to relax, but all joined in looking back at Luna with a look of questioning.

            “I’ve seen you before, you know,” Harry told her. The room relaxed once more, Luna stopping her humming. Neville licked on the end of his sugar quill, mulling over his essay. Harry found himself entranced by the blond sitting at the table in front of himself. He bawled up the piece of parchment he had received from Snape and threw it close to the blond’s head. Receiving no reaction, he began loudly singing the tune to a Weird Sisters song through a series of dun-dun-dun’s.

            “I can not believe this is really happening to me,” Draco said, shaking his head bitterly.

            “Oh, _shit!_ What are we supposed to do if we have to use the loo?”

            “Oh, please.” Draco reverted his eyes away from the black haired boy. He even preferred the Weasley’s company to him at this point, and they had occupied the room for less than ten minutes.

            “When you have to go, you have to go,” Harry joked. He unzipped his trousers, and Ginny had turned around before he had the chance to instigate them further.

            “You are not going to use the loo in here,” she snapped. She couldn’t _believe_ that her brother was ever caught dead around Harry. She couldn’t believe she’d ever thought she had a crush on him. “You whip it out and I’ll cut it off before it ever hits the floor.”

            Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Neville. “Hey. Plant-boy,” he said, “why don’t you go close the door, and we’ll see how long the blond princess here lasts in a four-to-one?”

            “Hey!” Ginny turned around again. “If I lose my temper you’re dead, Potter. Malfoy’s a git but he doesn’t deserve you being an arse.”

            “Yeah,” Draco chipped in, uncomfortable with being called ‘princess’, “why don’t you just shut up, Potter? Nobody here is interested.”

            “Just because you’re the Chosen One doesn’t mean you have a right to be a jerk.”

            Draco looked over at Ginny as he whispered, “He’s just doing it to get a rise out of us. Just ignore him.”

            Harry grinned. “Blondie, you couldn’t ignore me if you tried. So, are you guys boyfriend-girlfriend? Lovers?”

            Ginny felt herself blush a furious red, and Draco’s eyes widened. “SHUT UP!” they yelled simultaneously.

            “ _What_ is going on in there?!” Snape’s voice called from his office. The library fell momentarily silent again.

            Ginny shook her head and whispered, “And I thought Draco was the scumbag...” Draco glowered slightly, but did his best to ignore Ginny’s remark. He probably deserved it anyway.

            “Let’s close the door,” Harry suggested, standing up and walking towards Draco and Ginny’s table. “We can’t have a party if Snape’s coming in on us all the time.”

            “The door’s supposed to stay open,” Neville chimed in.

            “So?”

            “So, there’s four other people in here, and you know what, Potter, you don’t even count,” Ginny snapped. “You could sit here forever and it wouldn’t make any difference, you may as well not exist at this school. Everyone thinks you’re so great because you’re the Chosen One, Mom and Dad are just raving about Ron’s friend Harry Potter, but you’re not all that. You don’t even try.”

            “Well, I’ll just run right out and join back up on the Quidditch team.”

            Ginny laughed. “Didn’t you, uh, get yourself kicked off of that? Unlikely.”

            “Maybe the prep club, too. Student council.”

            “They wouldn’t take you.”

            “I’m in the Charms club,” Neville piped up, almost excitedly, but Draco talked over him.

            “You’re just afraid nobody would take you, _Potter_. Precious _Harry Potter_ , Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One. _P_ erfect _P_ otter.”

            “It wouldn’t have anything to do with you activities people being total jerks, now would it?”

            “How would you know? You don’t know any of us,” Ginny offered.

            “Yeah, I don’t know any Death Eaters either, doesn’t mean I’m going to run out and join one of their effing clubs.”

            “I’m in the Herbology club, too.”

            “Excuse me a second.” Harry looked across the room to Neville. “What are you talking about, Neville?”

            “Well, what I said was, that I’m in the Charms club, uh the Ancient Runes club, and the Herbology club.”

            “Hey, Blondie, do you belong to the Herbology club?”

            “That’s an academic club. It’s not the same,” Draco countered.

            “Ah, but to dorks like Neville, they are.” Harry rolled his eyes at Draco’s rudeness towards the Gryffindor. He looked back over at Neville and said, “What do you do in these clubs?”

            “Uh, in Herbology club we talk about plantlife.”

            “So it’s sort of social. Kinda sad, but social?”

            “I suppose so, at the end of the year we all get together on the grounds and have a big picnic.”

            “Look, if we keep talking then Snape is going to come right in here,” Ginny said suddenly, nervously looking across the hallway at Snape’s door. “I’ve got a Quidditch match on Saturday, and I’m not going to miss it because of you.”

            As if on cue, Snape appeared in sight. Harry hurriedly threw himself into the chair between Ginny and Draco and tried to look as innocent as possible. As Snape once more disappeared from view, Harry stood back up and ran to the door, withdrawing his wand from his jacket pocket.

            “What are you doing?!” Draco demanded exasperatedly.

            “Harry, that’s school property we’re not supposed to mess with it.”

            Harry mumbled under his breath and the door swung closed. He hurried across the room to take his seat. Snape strolled angrily back into the room.

            “Why is the door closed?” he demanded.

            “How should I know?” Harry asked. “I’m not supposed to move, Professor.”

            “WHY?”

            “We were just sitting here,” Draco answered.

            “Who closed that door?” Snape demanded again.

            “I think Peeves may’ve done it, Professor,” Harry said quietly.

            “It just closed, sir,” Ginny agreed.

            Snape scowled and returned to the door, inspecting it. Once it was apparent that the heavy wooden door wouldn’t stay open, his black eyes trailed over the seated students and said, “You’re not fooling me, Potter. The next door that breaks is going to be you.” Harry mumbled under his breath. “What was that?”

            “Suck. My. Wand.”

            “You just bought yourself another detention, Mr.”

            “Oh, I’m crushed.”

            “That’s another.”

            “Well, I’m free the Saturday after that.” He no longer cared. His Saturdays were stacked up until the end of term anyway. Now it was a mere excuse to antagonize his teacher. “Beyond that, I’ll have to check my schedule.”

            “Good. Because it’s going to be filled with you sitting in my office copying transcripts. Fifty house points from Gryffindor.”

            “So?”

            “ _Mr. Potter_ , would you like another detention?”

            “Yes.”

            “Cut it out!” Draco yelled.

            “That’s another, Mr. Potter. Another?”

            “Do you think I care?”

            “That’s another.”

            “How many is that?”

            “Uhm, that’s seven including the one when we came in and you asked if Marilyn Manson knew Professor Snape raided his wardrobe,” Neville said carefully.

            “Be quiet, Mr. Longbottom. It’s eight, and another ten points. You know, Potter? You are just like your father. You want these people to think you’re something, maybe you think you are because of that cut on your forehead, but you are nothing more than a bumbling oaf who needs to learn respect.” With that, Professor Snape strolled back to the door. “I will be right outside these doors. The next time I have to come in here, you will all lose points.” He left the room, letting the door slam behind him.

            “EFF YOU!” Harry screamed. “Fuuu,” he mumbled to himself.

 

xXx

 

On the last trip to Hogsmeade, Harry had bought candy cigarettes from Honeydukes. They were just like real Muggle ones, except you lit them and they tasted like flavors and you exhaled colored smoke. He lit his wand and raised it to light the cigarette. Draco found himself watching with a small smile.

            Hours passed in silence and lack of shenanigans, but a more relaxed silence than before, with the looming threat of Snape all but gone.

            Still no words filled anyone’s parchments.

            Slowly, they all drifted into sleep. Ginny was first, her red hair cascading over the back of her chair. Next was Neville, falling forward onto the desk with his book bag as a pillow. Then was Draco, who Harry stared at for several long, pained moments before he leaned his chair back against the table behind him and let himself fall asleep. Luna was the only one who stayed awake.

            Snape came in once to scold them, deduct house points, and escort them to the lavatory, before leaving them alone again.

            Harry sat digging through a box of index carded records, Neville was still mulling over his essay, Luna kept to herself without a word, and Ginny, deciding Draco was the only one in the room who seemed to dislike Harry as much as she currently did, chose to make talk with the blond boy.

            “Have your parents grounded you tonight?” she asked, leaning against the railing to the staircase.

            “My mom says I am but my dad says I’m not.”

            “There’s a party in the secret room on the third floor, all houses invited. I’m bringing some of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes candy, somebody is bringing Butterbeer. Should be pretty wild.”

            “I doubt I’ll go.”

            “How come?”

            “I won’t be welcomed. Mom’ll say not to go and Dad will say I should. It’ll be a big deal and I don’t feel like listening to it.”

            “Who do you like better?” Harry asked.

            “What?”

            “If you had to choose between them?”

            “I don’t know. I’d probably choose neither. I mean, I don’t think either really actually cares about me. They just use me to get brownie points from their friends. Oh yeah, Draco can play Quidditch. Draco got O’s on his O.W.L.s. Draco is this, Draco did that.”

            Ginny scoffed. “You’re just feeling sorry for yourself!”

            “Yeah, well, if I didn’t then nobody else would,” Draco countered.

            “Awh, you’re breaking my heart,” Harry scoffed.

            “What about you, Red? You get along with your parents?”

            “What, if I do I’m an idiot?”

            “No. If you say you do, you’re probably a liar,” Harry replied.

            There was another silence, this one more intense, in the room. Finally, Ginny spoke again, “You know something, Potter? If we weren’t in school right now I’d hex you.”

            “Hey, guys, let’s –” Harry and Ginny simultaneously shot Neville a look. “I mean,” Neville continued, “I don’t really like my Gran either, you know I don’t, I don’t get along with her and her idea of you know parental affection is you know –”

            “Neville, you’re fine. You’re probably a parent’s dream.”

            “Why do you insult everyone?!” Ginny demanded.

            “I’m being honest,” Harry replied. He held up his fist, which had been carved with the words ‘I must not tell lies’ from the days of Saturday detentions past when Umbridge was still around. “I would expect you to know the difference.”

            “You know, _P_ otter,” Draco snarled. “You think you’re so much better than everyone, you think you’re better than me, but you’re not.”

            “I am very much better than you, Malfoy.”

            Draco turned his finger up in a gesture that his mother wouldn’t approve of.

            “Such dirty finger gestures from such a pristine boy.”

            “I’m not that pristine.”

            “Really? Are you a virgin?” Harry leaned against Draco’s table. “I’ll bet you a hundred gold galleons that you are.”

            “Shut up.”

            “Have you ever kissed a girl?” Just inches away, he breathed into the blond boy’s face. “What about another boy?” Another breath. “Ever kissed a boy on the mouth?”

            “Leave him alone,” Ginny piped up. “Look, things may not be great right now, Harry, but we’ve still got hours to be in here together, so from now on you don’t talk to Draco, you don’t look at Draco, you don’t even think about him. Understand?”

            “I’m trying to help him,” Harry replied coldly.

            There was an awkward silence as Harry and Ginny returned to their seats.

 

xXx

 

Lunch time rolled around before the gang noticed. Harry had just lead the gang in a whistling performance of “A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love” (which even Luna joined in) when Professor Snape walked in.

            “Alright, you have thirty minutes for lunch,” he said, “before I expect you to be seated and quiet.”

            “Here?” Ginny asked.

            “Yes, Miss Weasley. Here.”

            “Well, wouldn’t the Great Hall be a more suitable place for us to eat, Professor?”

            “Snape, excuse me, Professor?” Harry asked, “Will milk be made available to us?”

            “We’re extremely thirsty, sir,” Ginny agreed. She felt herself ever so slightly finding herself amused at Harry’s attitude and antagonizing of the teacher they all loathed.

            “I have an extremely low tolerance for dehydration.” This came from Draco, who surprised Harry with his joining in.

            “I’ve seen him dehydrate, sir,” Ginny agreed, “it’s bloody disgusting.”

            “How about I get it?” Harry began to stand, before Snape retorted.

            “Sit down. Do you think I would allow you to roam these halls, Mr. Potter? Weasley,” he reverted his attention to the red-head, “and... you,” he called to Luna.

            Luna looked startled, before picking up her bag and following Ginny out of the room as they headed for the kitchens.

            “So,” Ginny asked, “what’s your potion? What do you drink?” Luna shyly narrowed her eyes at the girl. “Okay... forget I asked, then.”

            “Firewhiskey.”

            Ginny looked back at her. “Firewhiskey? When do you drink firewhiskey?”

            “Whenever I’d like. It keeps away the Nargles.”

            “A lot?”

            “Sure.”

            “That what you’re here for?”

            “What are you here for?”

            Ginny put her hands in the pockets of her jeans and leaned against a wall. “I’m here today because I, uh, my coach and my father don’t want me to blow my chances with the Harpies. Coach Hooch thinks I’m a winner, so I get treated differently. My dad wants me to get a good job. I’m not a winner because I want to be one, I’m a winner because I’ve got speed, and I’m agile. Kinda like a pixie. I’m not really involved in what’s happening to me.”

            “That’s very... interesting. Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re really in here?”

            “Forget it.” Ginny began walking down the hallway once more, followed by the blonde who skipped softly behind her and hummed a tune to herself.

 

xXx

 

Back in the library, Neville and Harry sat looking through books while Draco attempted to ignore their presence.

            “Draco, hey, Draco! Wanna see a picture of a girl whose face was ruined with an engorgio hex?”

            “Leave me alone,” Draco retorted coldly. Harry smugly grinned.

            “I wonder how she feeds herself. Draco, would you ever date a girl like this?”

            “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!” Draco growled. There was a pause. “You know what I wish I was doing right now? I wish I was on a broom... to anywhere but here.”

            Lunchtime came and Harry inspected the other students’ lunches. He took a seat next to Neville and began inspecting the boy’s lunch.

            He laughed. “Here’s my impression of life at Big Nev’s house.” He stood up and walked to the center of the room. ‘Grandson!?’ ‘Yeah, Gran?’ ‘How was your day, Nev?’ ‘Great, Gran.’ ‘Say, Nev, how’d you like to go to the Quidditch match this weekend?’ ‘Great, Gran. I have homework.’ ‘That’s alright, Neville. You can do it at the match!’ ‘Gee!’ ‘Well, isn’t my grandson swell? Isn’t life swell?’” He mimed a hug. Neville looked down at the table and moped.

            “Yeah, _P_ otter, how about your family?” Draco asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

            “Mine? Well, that’s easy. ‘Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn son of a witch, useless, know-it-all, jerk!’” He put a hand on his hip to imitate his aunt next, “‘You forgot ugly, lazy, and _disrespectful_!’” He bit his lip as he continued, “What about you, uncle Vernon? What about you? ‘Shut your mouth.’ No, Uncle Vernon, what about you?! ‘Fuck you!’ NO! WHAT ABOUT YOU? ‘FUCK. YOU.’” He mimed being punched and scowled at the room. Ginny, being the only one who really knew of Harry’s living situation, frowned.

            “Is that for real?” Neville question, worry tinged in his voice.

            “Want to come over and meet the aunt and uncle sometime?” Harry asked.

            “I don’t believe you,” Draco snapped.

            “No? You don’t believe me?”

            “Did I stutter, _P_ otter?”

            Harry strolled down the aisle to be in front of Draco’s table. He pulled off his hoodie and shoved his arm in front of Draco’s long, pointed nose. “You see this? About the size of the edge of a frying pan? This is what you get in my house if you overcook a piece of bacon.” Draco blinked down at his arm. “You see,” Harry stepped back and began walking deeper into the library and tossing books, “I don’t think that I need to sit around with you effing dungbombs anymore.” He collapsed to the floor when he was no longer in close proximity to the group and closed his eyes.

 

xXx

 

Harry heard the sound of Professor Snape making his way down the hallway and leaped towards the door. If only he had managed to get his Invisibility Cloak into the building without the hook-nosed Professor confiscating it. He peered out the door and gestured for his detention companions to follow him.

            “ _P_ otter, how do you know where Snape went?” Draco questioned, walking beside the Gryffindor.

            “I don’t.”

            “Then how do you know when he’s going to come back?”

            “I don’t,” Harry repeated with a half-grin. “Being _bad_ instead of _mean_ feels pretty good, doesn’t it, Malfoy?”

            “What’s the point of sneaking into the Gryffindor locker room?” Neville asked Ginny as they walked behind the Gryffindor and Slytherin.

            “Beats me,” Ginny replied.

            “This is so stupid, why are we risking getting caught?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “Then what are we doing?”

            “Neville, you ask me another question and I’m going to hex you.”

            Neville fell silent.

            When they made it to the lounge, Harry approached the wall of Gryffindor lockers. He could see Ginny’s and Neville’s among the red, but he approached his own. He opened it up and reached to grab a plastic baggie of red candies. “Confundus Candies,” Harry said smugly.

            “Those are illegal,” Neville squeaked. Harry shook his head and started walking off, followed by Draco. “Those are like drugs.” Ginny shrugged and followed after Harry and Draco. “ _Drugs_.” Luna still stood there, her mouth agape. “Do you approve of this?” he asked. She didn’t respond, to which Neville chose to follow the other students. Luna skipped after him a moment later.

            “We’ll cross through the one-eyed witch corridor, then we’ll double back,” Harry was saying. Ginny now walked along just beside him.

            “You better be right. If Professor Snape cuts us off it’s your fault.”

            “What did he say?” Neville whispered. “Where are we going?” Draco shook his head and picked up his pace to stay closer to Harry and Ginny. Luna still skipped slowly behind them.

            Just as they turned the corner, they could see Snape rushing down the hallway, his black jacket trailing behind him. Harry took off at full speed, his companions rushing behind him.

            Down two more hallways they once more bumped into Snape, rushing out of view before he could turn around and catch them. Harry cursed under his breath as he tried to find an escape.

            “Hold it, hold it, we’ve got to go through the Great Hall,” Harry said, stopping the group.

            “No! Out through the Broom Shed!” Ginny disagreed.

            “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Harry argued. Luna squeaked and nodded towards the hallway.

            “No, you don’t know what you’re talking about! We’re done listening to you, we’re going this way.” Ginny took off, followed by Neville and Draco close behind. Luna gave Harry a half-hearted shrug before following the majority. Harry groaned before taking off after the group.

            They came to the end of the hall and ran into a closed gate. “ _Great_ idea, Ginevra.”

            “Oh, screw you!” Ginny snapped back.

            “No,” Draco interrupted, “screw you, Weasel. You should’ve let us listen to Harry.”

            “He’s going to catch us now!” Neville muttered.

            “No,” Harry said, “just me.” The group stared at him. He looked over at Neville and reached into his own pocket. He pulled out the Confundus Candies and promptly shoved them into the front of Neville’s trousers. “Get back to the library.” Before anyone could say another word, Harry had taken off running down the hallway and screaming at the top of his lungs.

            “CAN YOU DANCE LIKE A HIPPOGRIFF NAW NAW NAW NAW NAW NAW NAW NAW NAW!!”

 

xXx

 

When Snape caught Harry he escorted him back to the library.

            “Mr. Potter,” he said distastefully, “took it upon himself to visit the trophy room. I am sorry to inform you all that you will be without your Chosen One for the rest of the day.” Harry scoffed, and Snape’s beady black eyes narrowed. “Do you think, Mr. Potter, that everything is a joke? That false alarm you set off on Monday was a joke? You think scaring the House Elves half to death was a joke? What if your own home, your own family... No, you don’t have a family to worry for, do you? What if those candies we all know you have were on fire, Mr. Potter?”

            “Impossible, Professor,” Harry replied, “they’re in Longbottom’s bottoms.”

            Ginny snickered and sent Snape off. “Miss Weasley, do you think he is funny? You think Mr. Potter is being cute? Let me tell you something,” he sneered. “Mr. Potter will be no better than his loathesome father. You want to see something funny? Go visit Harry Potter in five years. No more ‘Chosen One’, no more ‘Boy Who Lived’, you’ll see how funny he is. Let’s go, Mr. Potter.”

 

xXx

 

After Snape had escorted Harry out, the students pondered over the Professor’s cruelty, though it was quick to pass. Draco had begun a conversation with Ginny about Quidditch, as they were opposing Seekers, while Neville continued pondering over his essay and how he thought his plants were doing at home. Luna sat in the back, doodling onto her essay parchment.

            It wasn’t long before they heard a crash, followed by a string of expletives, before Harry appeared out of the back of the library. He strolled over to the table he had previously occupied, smugly grinning at the surprised faces of his detention mates, and picked up the feather quill that sat there. “Forgot my quill,” he joked.

            The door began to open, and Harry threw himself into the floor, rolling underneath Ginny and Draco’s table. “What in Merlin’s name is going on in here?!” Snape demanded. The students all shrugged and pulled their best innocent faces. “What was that ruckus?”

            “What ruckus?” Ginny questioned, blinking innocently.

            “I heard a ruckus.”

            “Can you describe the ruckus, Professor?” asked Neville, in a moment of cheeky bravery.

            “Watch your tongue, Longbottom. Five points from Gryffindor.” Neville sunk in his seat.

            As they students bickered with Snape over the source of the ‘ruckus’, Harry eyed the bulge in Draco’s dark, tight jeans. He reached his hand up and rubbed it over the bulge, causing Draco to slam his knees together over Harry’s hand. Harry groaned, which Draco did his best to cover up with a cough. The entire room began coughing as Draco kicked Harry under the table.

            “Uh,” Draco said, trying to recover his composure, “that noise? Was that the noise you heard, Professor?”

            “No,” said Snape, “it was not, Mr. Malfoy. And you,” he pointed to Neville, “I will not be made a fool of.” As he left the room, Luna, Neville, and Ginny burst into laughter, but Draco sat frowning and angry. He pushed back his chair and began punching Harry’s back as the black-haired boy crawled out.

            “It was an accident?” Harry tried.

            “You’re an arse, scarhead!!” Draco yelled.

            “Sue me,” Harry replied with a wink.

            “So, may I have my candies?” Harry asked Neville. Neville pulled the baggie from his pants and handed it to the shorter boy. Draco watched him walk away and, secretly liking the feeling of Harry against his jeans, stood and followed him. Neville followed suit just seconds later, leaving Luna and Ginny behind. Bitterly, Ginny made her way across the library while Luna watched.

            Harry, Draco, and Neville had begun eating the candies. They laughed hysterically at seemingly nothing at all.

            As Draco choked on the bitter taste of the candy, Harry looked over at him and smiled. Draco caught his eye for a moment, smiling softly back before taking the candy again and trying to swallow it better. Neville was rattling off in a strange voice and Harry glanced over at Draco again, catching that Draco was already looking at him. Draco frowned, and Harry returned the frown though less meaningful.

            “Do you know how popular I am?” Draco said. “I am so popular, _P_ otter, all the Slytherins just love me so much.”

            Ginny, having taken one of the candies, found her way into the adjoined announcements office and turned on the stereo, blasting music throughout the library. She emerged and ripped off her Quidditch jacket, dancing along beside the bookshelves. Luna still sat by herself, though she smiled at the ginger’s shenanigans. Slowly, the group broke up again. Neville and Ginny now sat on a couch, laughing and talking about random things.

            “So, so, you got a middle name?” Ginny was asking Neville.

            “Yeah, it’s –”

            “Your middle name is Frank. Your birthday is July thirtieth, you’re five nine and a half and your social security number is –”

            “HEY! What are you, psychic?” Neville interrupted.

            “No.”

            “Then would you mind telling me how you know all that stuff about me?”

            Luna sat down on the couch beside Neville, holding onto her purse. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wallet. “You dropped your wallet.”

            Neville snatched it. “So you’re a thief, too, Looney – Luna! I meant Luna.”

            Luna shrugged. “I wasn’t going to steal anything. You don’t have anything to steal anyway.” A few minutes later, as Neville had started going through Ginny’s bag and Ginny through Neville’s wallet, Luna looked down at her own bag. “You want to see what’s in my bag?” she asked.

            “No,” the two said in unison, but the bag was already dumped onto the center of the couch. Odds and ends fell from it. Spectrospecs and old copies of the Quibbler, strange charms and things Neville had no idea what could possibly be.

            “Merlin’s beard!” Ginny exclaimed.

            “What is this stuff?” Neville asked. “Do you always carry this much stuff in your bag?”

            “Yes. You never know when you may have to chase a Snorkacks.”

            “Are you going to be, like, one of those ladies who sits in the alleyways and talks to building and feeds the post office’s owls and that kind of thing?”

            Luna shrugged.

            “So are you going to run away or something?” Neville asked, gesturing to spare socks and such.

            “Well I could go anywhere. China, America, India, Australia, France.”

            “Why would you do that?”

            “Life here is unsatisfying.” Neville gave her a blank look. “Forget it, nothing’s wrong, leave me alone.”

            “No, wait,” Ginny snapped, “either you want to run away or you want us to think you want to run away. Which is it?” Luna stood and walked away, leaving her bag behind on the couch.

            Ginny groaned and stood to follow her. “Hey,” she said, “you wanna talk?”

            “No,” Luna replied. “Go away.”

            “Why do you want me to go?”

            “Go away. You have problems.”

            “I have problems? Okay, but I didn’t dump my purse out on the couch and invite people into my problems. So what’s wrong? What is it? Is it bad?”

            Luna looked down and then back at Ginny’s eyes.

            “Your parents?” Ginny asked.

            “Yeah,” Luna said blankly.

            “What do they do to you?”

            “Mum... mum passed away. Dad misses her awfully and he, well, I guess he forgets me sometimes.”

            “Yeah.” Ginny was blank, staring at the wall.

 

xXx

 

The five students now sat in the floor of the library together. Draco and Harry leaning on Pillars across from each other. Neville, Ginny, and Luna leaning sitting on the floor to the side of the pillars.

            “What would you do... for a million galleons?” Draco asked after a moment of quiet.

            “What would I do for a million galleons?” Ginny asked. “I guess as little as I had to.”

            “Ugh, that’s _boring_ , Weasel.”

            “Well,” the ginger snapped, “how am I _supposed_ to answer?”

            “The idea is to search your mind for the limit, like, would you come to school naked?”

            Ginny chuckled. “Would I have to get out in front of everyone?”

            “Of course.”

            “Spring or winter?”

            “Spring, I suppose.”

            “In front of school or back of the school?”

            “Either or.”

            “Then yes. We could use a million galleons.”

            Luna chimed into the conversation. “I’d do that. You wouldn’t even have to pay me. Clothes are constricting, like shoes are only there to protect your feet, clothes are only there to make others not see your body. Though some of them are nice.”

            “You’re lying,” Draco said coldly, “you don’t think that.” But Ginny was smiling down at the blonde. “You’re so bizarre.”

            “Hey, we’re all a little bizarre,” Ginny countered.

            “Really, how are you bizarre, Weasel?” Draco asked.

            “She can’t think for herself,” Luna said.

            There a pause before Ginny agreed. “That’s true. You know what I did to get in here? I bat bogey hexed Justin Finch-Fletchley, so much that he started bleeding. He couldn’t breathe. He had bruises. And the bizarre thing is,” she looked over at Luna, “I did it because I thought it would impress my family. You know, my brothers – Fred and George – they’re the laughs of the family. I tortured that poor Hufflepuff because I wanted them to think I was cool. I thought they were disappointed because I never did anything fun like that, you know? So I was walking back from the green houses, and I saw Justin and started thinking and... and I just started hexing him. And my friends cheered me on. And later, when I’d lost us house points and I was sitting in Snape’s office, all I could think about was Justin going home and telling his parents that I hexed him. And how they were going to feel. All because I wanted to impress my family. God, I hate them. They’re like these mindless machines I can’t even relate to anymore. ‘Ginevra, you have to be number one. You have to be as good as Bill, and Charlie, and Percy, and Fred, and George, and Ron, and all while being the only girl.’ You know sometimes I wish my knee would give, and I wouldn’t be able to play Quidditch anymore. They could forget about me.”

            “It’s like me, you know, with my grades,” Neville piped in. “Like when I get out of my comfort zone and I step out and look at myself and I don’t, I don’t like what I see, you know?”

            “Well, what’s wrong with you? Why don’t you like yourself?” Ginny asked him.

            “I was... I’m failing transfiguration. We were, we were supposed to make the rats into a cup and... and I did it and mine... it was just a rat. The rat was still a rat.”

            “I can cast a spell with my toes,” Luna blurted out.

            “I can properly transfer a mandrake,” Neville said quietly with a smile.

            “I wanna see what Draco can do.”

            Draco looked across at Harry. “I can’t do anything.”

            “Come on, everyone can do something.”

            Draco sighed. “Okay, but you can’t laugh.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a stick of eyeliner. He pulled his knees up to his chest and put the eyeliner between them, before he leaned down and when he sat back up his eyes were lined with black. Ginny and Luna clapped, impressed, but Harry’s clapping was sarcastic and slow as he chuckled.

            “You prick,” Ginny said.

            “Come on,” Luna snapped, “don’t do that to him, you promised you wouldn’t laugh.”

            “He can put on makeup, so cool,” Harry rolled his eyes.

            “You know,” Draco spat, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to remove the makeup, which he seldom wore because his father would be displeased, “I have feelings, too, _P_ otter, and it hurts just as much when someone disregards them as it would for you.”

            “Don’t ever compare yourself to me, princess. You have it made. I like those silver rings you’re wearing, Malfoy.”

            “Shut up.”

            “Did you earn the money for those?”

            “Shut up.”

            “Or did you daddy buy those for you.”

            “Shut. _Up_!”

            “I bet those were a Christmas gift. You know what I got for Christmas? It was a banner year at the Dursley household. I got a new broom to sweep their floors with. So go home and go cry to mommy and daddy don’t cry here.”

            “My God, are we going to be like our parents?” Ginny said after a long pause.

            “Not me,” Draco said, swallowing hard. “Not ever.”

            Harry smirked and nodded in the blond’s direction.

            “It’s unavoidable,” Luna cut in, “it just happens.”

            “What happens?” Ginny questioned.

            “When you grow up, something horrible always happens to you and your heart dies.”

            “Who cares?” Harry shot.

            “I care,” Luna said quietly.

            “Guys, I’ve been thinking and... I know it’s kind of a weird time, but what happens on Monday?” Neville asked. “I mean, I’d consider you guys my friends. I mean, Ginny, Harry, we share the Gryffindor locker room, we know each other. But Draco? Luna? I’m not wrong, am I?”

            “No,” Ginny said.

            “Are we still friends, you mean?” Draco questioned. “If we’re friends now, that is?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Do you want the truth? I don’t think so.”

            “Nice attitude, Malfoy,” Ginny snapped.

            “Oh, be honest, Weasley. If Longbottom came walking up to you in the hall on Monday what would you do?”

            “You are a _bitch_ , Malfoy!” Harry yelled.

            “Why? Because I’m telling the truth, scarhead?”

            “No, because you know how horrible of a thing that is to do to someone, and you don’t have the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you can like a Gryffindor if you like a Gryffindor.”

            “Okay and what about you? If I walked up to you what would your friends think? What would they say if you and I were walking down the hallways together?”

            “Don’t ever talk about my friends. Stick to the things you know – Quidditch, _eyeliner_ , your father’s BMW and pretending you’re hooking up with Pansy Parkinson to make everyone like you.”

            “Shut up!” Draco yelled.

            “And as for what would happen if I walked down the hallway with you, forget about it because it’s never going to happen! So come Monday you can ignore this, and us, and the truth, and just wait for your precious prom.”

            “I hate you.”

            “Yeah? Good.”

            “Okay, so Luna and I are better than you guys, huh? Us weirdos? Luna, would you do that to me?” Neville asked.

            “... I don’t have any friends,” Luna said quietly. “They all call me ‘Looney’.”

            “Well, if you did?”

            “No.” Luna shook her head. “The kind of friends I’d have wouldn’t mind.”

            “Well, I’d like to tell each of you that I wouldn’t do that,” Neville said, “and I will not.”

            “You don’t get it, Longbottom,” Draco snapped. “You don’t understand the kind of friends that Weasel and I have. The kind of pressure they can put on you.”

            “I don’t – I don’t understand _what_?!” Neville demanded. “You think I don’t understand pressure, Malfoy? Well, fuck you!” He felt hot tears begin streaming down his face. “Fuck you!” Harry watched him from where he sat, worriedly. “Know why I’m here today?!” Neville yelled, “DO YOU?!” He wiped his eyes before continuing, “I’m here because Mr. Filch found a gun in my locker.”

            “Why... Neville, why was there a gun in your locker?”

            “I... I tried, okay? Can’t do a killing curse, so I was going to use the muggle way... I couldn’t... I was supposed to... to say the fucking spell and the rat was supposed to be a cup... the rat wasn’t a cup...”

            “What was the gun for, Neville?” Ginny asked again.

            “Just... just forget it...”

            “You brought it up, man,” Ginny said.

            “We can’t have an ‘F’...” Neville said, wiping his eyes. “I can’t have it... my Gran, I know she can’t have it. And, and even if I ace the rest of the semester it’s still only a ‘B’. Everything’s ruined for me.”

            “Neville...” Draco said carefully.

            Neville hit a chair sitting nearby with his fist. “I was... I was just considering an option.”

            “No,” Luna said, “killing yourself wasn’t an option.”

            “Well, I didn’t do it, did I?”

            Silence. “Would you like to know what I did to get in here?” Luna asked. “Nothing. I didn’t have anything better to do. Nobody invited me to their parties or games or events.”

            The five began laughing, rolling on the floor with chuckles.

 

xXx

 

“Hey, Longbottom, are you going to write your essay?” Draco asked. He, Neville, Luna, and Ginny were sitting in the library in silence while Harry was crawling through the vents to return to the supply closet Professor Snape had told him to occupy for the remainder of detention.

            “Well, that’s what Professor Snape wants us to do...”

            “Well, it’s kind of a waste for all of us to write it, isn’t it?” Draco asked. “I just thought, you probably know what all of us would say anyway?”

            “You just want me to write it for you, right?”

            “True, but, you’re the smartest, right? We trust you.”

            Ginny spoke agreement. “Okay,” said Neville. “I’ll do it.”

            “Great,” Draco said. He turned to the side and pulled on Luna’s sleeve. “Come on.”

            On the other side of the library, the blond boy had now begun putting his eyeliner on the blonde girl. He pulled back her messy curls and smiled. “You look kind of pretty, you know? I don’t know if you know that.”

            Luna smiled. “I don’t know if you know, but you’re being nice. I don’t know if you know that.”

            “I do,” Draco replied.

 

xXx

 

After completing his minor makeover of Luna, Draco snuck out into the hall and found his way to Harry’s supply closet.

            “Lost?” Harry asked.

            Draco shook his head. He closed the door and stepped over to Harry. The black haired boy stood to stare at his eyes. Draco leaned down and kissed Harry’s neck, breathing against his flesh.

            “Why’d you do that?” Harry asked.

            “I wanted to.” Harry grinned. “Were you really disgusted about what I did with the makeup?” Draco asked.

            “Truth?” Harry asked.

            “Truth.”

            “No. It was kind of hot.” Draco grinned.

 

xXx

 

Luna made her way to the part of the library occupied by Ginny and Neville.

            Ginny stood from her seat as the blonde girl approached, her jaw dropping. Neville looked up from his parchment and stared at the girl.

            “What happened to you?” Ginny asked, coming face to face with the smaller girl.

            “Why? Draco did it. What’s wrong?”

            “Nothing’s wrong. You’re just so... different, you know? I can see your face.”

            “Is that... is that good or bad?” Luna asked, eyes wide.

            “Good,” Ginny replied.

 

xXx

 

The five students left the school, together as the day ended.

            Neville got into his gran’s old car with barely a word.

            Ginny pulled Luna into a deep kiss that only ended when Luna pulled Ginny’s Gryffindor lion off of her Quidditch jacket and backed up to her father’s car. Mr. Weasley pulled up to the curb, giving Luna a confused look, and then Ginny as she climbed into the Ford Anglia.

            Harry and Draco stood on the sidewalk. Right next to Mr. Malfoy’s car. Draco bit his lip as they walked towards the car, before he pulled one of his rings off his thin finger and handed it to Harry. Harry leaned down and their mouths met, kissing each other passionately until Draco pulled back, taking a deep breath before getting into Mr. Malfoy’s car to face the inevitable disaster that was to come.

            Harry watched as the blond drove off with his father, before slipping the ring onto his finger and starting the walk home.

 

xXx

 

_Dear Professer Snape,_

_We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are._

_You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out was that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?_

_Always,_

_The Breakfast Club_


End file.
